Concealed-gun licenses more common in wealthy areas

Editor's Note: This story was written by reporters John Tedesco of the San Antonio Express-News and Brandi Grissom of the Texas Tribune. Matt Stiles of the Tribune analyzed and mapped the data.

SAN ANTONIO -- Jonathon Hartsfield and Adam Kelly live on opposite sides of San Antonio. They both own guns, they've never been in serious trouble with the law, and they'd both like to have a concealed-handgun license -- just to be safe.

But like many of his neighbors on the city's low-income south side, Hartsfield hasn't applied for a gun permit, which costs $140 for the license fee and roughly $100 or more for the 10-hour instruction class. "I'd like one," says Hartsfield, 22, who works at a shooting range. "It's the cost and time to get it.

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Kelly, 36, lives on the city's north side -- one of the most popular areas for concealed-handgun licenses. Two weeks ago, he attended the mandatory class to obtain his permit. "It's the right thing to do if you're going to have a gun," Kelly says.

When Texas lawmakers approved the state's concealed-handgun statute 15 years ago, they promised it would help law-abiding Texans defend themselves against criminals. But in a pattern that's playing out in San Antonio and other major cities in Texas, residents in low-income neighborhoods aren't taking advantage of the concealed-carry law as often as residents living in wealthier, more conservative areas.

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The pattern surprises some gun owners, who wonder why more law-abiding citizens aren't applying for concealed-handgun licenses in the inner city, where rates of violent crimes are higher.

The trend didn't surprise Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, who wrote the 1995 bill that created the concealed-handgun license when he was in the Texas Senate. But he says socioeconomics weren't at the top of his priority list when he developed the measure.

"You're talking about disposable income sufficient to take the course, pay the fee and buy a firearm," he says. "I think it would be certainly better if we could lower the fee."

Haves and have-nots

The Department of Public Safety does not identify permit-holders, but it publishes data showing the total permits issued in ZIP codes across Texas. When those data are compared with income levels and past presidential election results in the same areas, the analysis shows that the number of gun permits in a neighborhood often correlates with how much money residents make, how they vote and where they live.

The outskirts of Bexar County and many north side neighborhoods had the highest rates of gun permits. Ten or more permits per 1,000 residents were issued or renewed last year in ZIP codes such as 78259, a maze of cul-de-sacs and winding streets.

The median household income for residents in the area was nearly $100,000, and voters predominately cast their ballots for Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain in the 2008 presidential election. The north side neighborhoods in that ZIP code had a low rate of violent offenses: four incidents per 1,000 residents.

Meanwhile, in the west side ZIP code of 78207, near downtown San Antonio, the rate for violent crimes such as aggravated assault and robbery was nine times as high as the violent crime rate in 78259. Yet only 27 people of 57,000 residents of the west side ZIP code received a concealed-gun permit last year, or less than 1 percent. The median household was $25,000, and residents tend to vote for Democrats. Barack Obama won most voting precincts on the West Side.

Similar patterns emerge in Harris County. In the Houston suburb of Sugar Land, for example, about 12 of every 1,000 residents was licensed to carry a concealed-gun last year. The median annual income there: $91,756. And residents there chose McCain over Obama in 2008. Meanwhile, near downtown Houston, in a ZIP code where the median income is $24,976 and voters in 2008 supported Obama, only about three residents in every 1,000 obtained a handgun license.

The trend in other major metropolitan counties is visible in maps created by the Tribune, using demographics data released to the Tribune by Esri, a leader in the geographic information systems industry.

Is it a sign of a stark divide between liberals and conservatives? Between the haves and have-nots? Between those who embrace Texas gun culture, and those who don't understand it?

At least one expert says it's probably some amalgamation of those factors and others, too, including individuals' perceptions about crime and guns, their likelihood to be involved in crime and even the number of single-parent households in an area.

"Most criminologists probably would believe that those elements could be important, but there's probably a lot else that's going on as well," says Matt Nobles, an assistant professor of criminal justice at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville.

Crime rates

Crime rates in a neighborhood often have little bearing on whether residents opt to get a gun permit. "Crime rates and licensed handgun concealment are not closely related," says John Kilburn, a professor at Texas A&M International University who co-wrote a 2004 study about gun permits in Louisiana. "Because we're talking about a human emotion of fear of victimization. And that overpowers anything."

Nobles says individual opinions about guns may also be different based on where a person lives and the crime rate there. For people who live in urban neighborhoods where gang violence is prevalent, guns could be associated with crime and death. Residents in suburban areas may see guns as recreational and as a means of protection.

In areas where the crime rate is higher, he says, more people could be disqualified from getting a license because they have a criminal history.

What's more, gun ownership and concealed-handgun licenses don't necessarily go hand in hand. Texans can legally keep guns in their homes and cars without a license. Then there are those who don't care what's legal and carry a gun anyway.

It remains unclear, though, whether high rates of concealed-gun permits in a neighborhood actually deter crime. Researchers such as John Lott, a senior research scientist at the University of Maryland and the author of "More Guns, Less Crime," argue that violent offenses dropped in states where concealed-carry laws were adopted. Other researchers disagreed with Lott's conclusions and argue that legalizing concealed handguns has little impact on crime rates. "It may be just that the inner city may have more crime in general, regardless of whether people get licensed," Nobles says.